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Sergio Garcia was disqualified from the Saudi International because of "serious misconduct" on Saturday.

Garcia was accused by fellow players of purposefully hitting his clubs into the surface of the greens causing damage. Garcia posted a 1-over 71 in the third round, but was ultimately disqualified by the European Tour via Rule 1.2a.

This is how the USGA explains Rule 1.2a, which relates to player conduct, under the new Rules of Golf:

It declares that players are expected to play in the spirit of the game by acting with integrity, showing consideration to others and taking good care of the course.

It unequivocally states the Committee’s authority to disqualify a player for any serious misconduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game.

In place of the unclear previous concept of “breach of etiquette”, it uses the more direct and stronger phrases “misconduct” and “serious misconduct.”

Garcia issued a statement following his disqualification, saying, "I respect the decision of my disqualification. In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologize for, and I have informed my fellow players it will never happen again.”

"It is believed that Garcia damaged five greens during his third circuit, with players in the four groups immediately behind him all complaining to rules officials about the state he’d left them," the paper reported.

This incident adds to an already controversial beginning to the inaugural event as players in the field have been criticized for their participation after Saudi Arabia's involvement in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

I believe the penalty wasn't severe enough. If the penalty was more severe like eliminating his option to play in a major this would never happen. Money isn't a deterrent to somebody with his resources.

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Interesting that from what I can see in 2 pages of posts, only the OP mentioned Sergio as a villain in this thread:

Yeah I never really saw Garcia as a villain. Just too much crying and bitching which has improved. Hell I was rooting for him to win the Masters when he did. I would never root for Poulter but I also don’t think Poulter would damage a green. That’s a different kind of douchebagness.

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Wow. Damaging one green in frustration would be a “serious misconduct”, damaging multiple greens (possibly five?) is beyond the punishment given. I am sure it won’t be disclosed but I sure hope some other repercussions fall out from this. It’s pretty disgusting. Anyone know the extent of the damage (putter slammed into green out of frustration i assume?)?

He's not my type of golfer. I can be intense, lose focus and still not throw a tantrum. Do I wish ill will against him? Nah...What he does / doesn't do doesn't cause me grief or pleasure. Is it bad for television or golf in general, sure.

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Bobby Jones had a temper. Perhaps his most famous temper tantrum was ripping up his scorecard, thus removing himself from competition. He was also know to throw a club now and then. As he explained, "When you feel a fool, and a poor golfer to boot, what else can you do but throw the club away?"

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I don't think it's that big a deal. I wouldn't really enjoy playing with a guy getting that mad about it, but it's different when it's your livelihood and your ability is that high. I'm sure his caddy repaired the greens. I'd have more of a problem had he thrown his club and it hit some one. IIRC, that occurred last year with some pro, can't remember who.

He's not my type of golfer. I can be intense, lose focus and still not throw a tantrum. Do I wish ill will against him? Nah...What he does / doesn't do doesn't cause me grief or pleasure. Is it bad for television or golf in general, sure.

Doing it once is a tantrum, but 5 times. That’s just being a dick.....

Also it is negatively affecting every other player behind him on the course.

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I know it's a little late, but I said no majors before the year started and am sticking to that, although I hope I'm wrong. I think his best shot will be at Pebble. I do think he will finish in the top-3 there but I think one of the big hitters (DJ, Koepka, Rory) will power through.
PGA wins, I'll go with 2. I think he'll win one of his normal events (Bay Hill or Memorial) and then win a FedEx event. I think he will get into the top 30 with a lot of top-10 finishes this year to play The TOUR.

It hasn't been too cold in NC, but it has been as wet as I can remember. I have played once this week, and it has rained every day, and is supposed to rain this weekend. I've played less this winter than any winter in recent memory. Hurry up spring!

Also happening on the LPGA:
The full videos doesn't show it, but I'm wondering if Olson gave a sign or something to Jutanugarn not to mark here. Jutanugarn goes to start marking her ball, it looks like, and she looks over at Olson, motioning something, and immediately stops. This seems awfully close to the line, if not over it.
LPGA apparently deleted a tweet about this, too:
Yikes.

I chose time because a lot of people I know don't want to play because it's too long for them and they don't have the time. Also here in Canada, Quebec accessibility is starting to be an issue, probably more than in the U.S. A lot of golf course are sold to property developers and it's starting to limit the choices of course at close range. I don't think money is an issue, there is always deals you can find to play golf at a discount and other activities cost as much as golf these days.